Around the League - Curry Out "A few weeks"

[AussieBuck]

In my mind there's no reason the Ant/Gobert duo can't be at least as successful as Mitchel/Gobert were in Utah.

They just have to make the brave decision to get rid of the Kat/Russel duo, get some shooters and defenders back, unclog the paint and give Ant all the usage he can take. This is Ant's team, they either understand it or they lose him.

Am I over simplifying this?

Russell is **** awful. I'm sure you're mostly right but Russell being **** **** is magnifying whatever else is going on.

[Jez2983]

I remember asking why Haliburton wasn't considered to go way higher. He looked awesome to my untrained eye.

Whatever the opposite of Mark Waugh's aesthetic is what goes on when Haliburton uses his arms for anything. Nothing but net - looks like a fluked brick, nailed a pass in a tiny window - random flailing arms leads to lucky assist.

Everything about him is **** ace, none of it *looks* graceful. This is all I have.

For non-Australians playing at home, Mark Waugh was an aestheticly pleasing Stick ball (cricket) player who made sport look effortless. Evidently AB considers Haliburton the opposite.



Dustin Fletcher AB?

[BUCKnation]

I remember asking why Haliburton wasn't considered to go way higher. He looked awesome to my untrained eye.

Despite good percentages, his counting stats werent super high for a guy who was definitely the best player on his team. Was only 15/6/6 on a team that won 12 games.

[leroyjw10]

Has anyone else noticed that PJ Tucker seems to be aiming for "The Tony Snell" every game now? Check out his game logs from November. Dude has taken 3 shots over his last 69+ minutes of action.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3033/pj-tucker

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Has anyone else noticed that PJ Tucker seems to be aiming for "The Tony Snell" every game now? Check out his game logs from November. Dude has taken 3 shots over his last 69+ minutes of action.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3033/pj-tucker

Sometimes you can make the right decision and end up wrong. I think this is the PJ the Bucks thought they would get if they resigned him last year (And maybe they were right and there really is something in Miami's water). It will be interesting how PJ reacts over the next few months. Will he transition to a high energy 10-15 minute a game player or go full Jae Crowder if his minutes slip.

[Pachinko_]

Tucker is washed. 25+ minutes of nothing tonight. And most nights.

Τhe only unusual thing about Tucker is that he didn't get washed a couple of years ago at 35, like most people.
We got lucky.

[MikeIsGood]

Haliburton has 40 assists and 0 turnovers in the last three games (2-1).

[Baddy Chuck]

Sixers offensive rating with Tucker is the highest of anyone of the team at 114.6.
Sixers with Embiid and Tucker together have a +11 net with a 98.4 DRTG.

[skbucks1985]

I'm not the biggest PJ fan, I think he's a little overrated defensively and I think he's incessantly performatively exasperated whenever he's called for a foul which I find very annoying. But his value has never been in his scoring totals or even on the stat sheet. He's got the proverbial dog in him, he gives team's toughness and he's often going to take the toughest defensive assignment. If they play the Bucks in the playoffs he's going to be defending Giannis or Middleton most of his minutes. If they play Boston he's going to defend Tatum or Brown during most of his minutes.

Just to put a final point on this, Tucker took a total of 4 shots in Games 4-6 of the Finals against the Suns and made one of them. In those playoffs he had 8 games where he had more fouls than points and another 2 where those numbers were equal.

[mattg]

I remember asking why Haliburton wasn't considered to go way higher. He looked awesome to my untrained eye.

Honestly think it hurt him a bit that his closest recent comparison as a player, Lonzo Ball, was really struggling around the time that Haliburton was being scouted. Tyrese was another somewhat unconventional tall, skinny PG, who had question marks about his J (despite percentages, it has always looked funky, though less so now in the NBA) and didn't project as a big scorer.

I think even the biggest Haliburton fans never expected him to ever develop his scoring game to the point it already is at. That's the biggest surprise IMO. Also, Tyrese was always looked at as a good ball moving playmaker who helps the offense as a connector...but he wasn't a PnR dynamo and no one projected him turning into the playmaker he has already become. His development curve is quite staggering IMO.

AS for Minnesota, I agree that realistically they should just trade KAT and Russell for pieces....but like what is even out there? Who even wants KAT that could provide a quality 3+D wing or legit ball screen guard? Looking around the league I can't even find a team that has something of decent value that would even be interested in KAT...let alone DeLo right now.

[paulpressey25]

Who even wants KAT that could provide a quality 3+D wing or legit ball screen guard? Looking around the league I can't even find a team that has something of decent value that would even be interested in KAT...let alone DeLo right now.

Khris Middleton

[WRau1]

I haven't watched a ton of 76er games but the ones I have, PJ looked noticeably slower. His reputation as a tough defenders has certainly helped him though, I don't think I've ever seen a player not get called for so many obvious fouls. Not just one game, either. There was an end of game situation against either the Wizards or Knicks where they just kept feeding whomever Tucker was guarding over and over, iso'ing at the top of the key and blowing past him. Resulted in a Tucker foul or easy bucket/assist to ice the game.

[paulpressey25]

I haven't watched a ton of 76er games but the ones I have, PJ looked noticeably slower. His reputation as a tough defenders has certainly helped him though, I don't think I've ever seen a player not get called for so many obvious fouls. .

And that's why I still fear the 76'ers and am on the PJ bandwagon. On that team, with Harden, Embiid, Tobias and Maxey, last thing they need is another usage player.

But they do need tough. And PJ flat out roughs people up, and hits the occasional corner 3. He's valuable.

[Ron Swanson]

Who even wants KAT that could provide a quality 3+D wing or legit ball screen guard? Looking around the league I can't even find a team that has something of decent value that would even be interested in KAT...let alone DeLo right now.

Khris Middleton

If we fail to win the title this year with a healthy Giannis/Jrue/Middleton trio, this is probably the ideal pivot (unless someone like Durant or Dame wants to come here). KAT has his warts but pairing Giannis with arguably the best 7-foot 3PT shooter in league history is a dream fit. He wouldn't have anywhere near the pressure to create alongside a Jrue/Giannis offensive ecosystem, and I'd trust Bud to figure out the defensive stuff.

[raferfenix]

I'm not closing the book on PJ until after he fails to contribute in the playoffs.

Either way we definitely could have used him last season. If that wasn't the case we wouldn't have been canvassing the league looking to trade Grayson Allen (and more potentially) for Jae Crowder.

He'd be expiring this year too if we had given him the 2 year $20 million deal he wanted after our championship run.

That's very different than Tucker kicking off a 3 year $30 million contract this season.

[BUCKnation]

Hawks, who looked great against us and seemed like they were on an upswing have gone 2-5 since. Weird team.

[paulpressey25]

Watched all the games last night.

-Lakers are really screwed. Doesn't seem to be a pathway to the playoffs for them

-Indy is for real. This reminds me of when they made the shift from the Miller/Rose/Smits team to the Jermaine O'Neal era. No way would they deal Turner and Hield for those Laker picks at this point

-The Kings. I love em, and they've had three really tough games. But they just don't have the defense, and Sabonis creates this huge sieve in the middle

-Orlando - Banchero and Wagner are a great core. John Hammond won't be the one though to make them a winning club

-Wizards - they might ride the Kuzma/Beal/Porzingis train to a .500 record. There is chemistry there if they stay healthy

-Hornets - this might be the most hapless franchise at the moment

[Ron Swanson]

Hornets are probably the franchise that needs Wemby the most, but the Spurs are probably the franchise that deserves him.

[MickeyDavis]

Only game of interest tonight is Warriors at Mavs. Warriors have seemingly figured it out and the Mavs are struggling.

Knicks/Detroit with Pistons missing their stars, no thanks. LAC missing their stars vs. Portland, no thanks.

[H2tObes]

Hornets are probably the franchise that needs Wemby the most, but the Spurs are probably the franchise that deserves him.

Nah Charlotte deserves Wemby like we deserved Giannis. Spurs had their dynasty

Their commentator will be insufferable with Wemby tho gotta say, dude will be jizzing his pants every single play